Prices of medicines and Drug Administration
Monday, 11 June 2007
COUNTRY'S pharmaceutical sector has achieved impressive as well as enviable growth since the promulgation of the Drug Control Ordinance in 1982. The industry, which is now worth Tk.30 billion, in addition to increasing its share in the local market to 90 per cent, has been successful in making a modest entry into the global market. Some of the local drug manufacturers having state-of-the-art manufacturing plants are capable of competing with drug manufacturers of even developed countries. One of such companies has recently received quality certification from the drug regulator in the UK, thus, making it eligible to export its products to the UK and other European Union countries. A number of large local pharmaceutical companies have, reportedly, also sought certification from the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA). The Bangladesh pharmaceutical sector is expected to make further progress if it gets necessary fiscal and other supports from the government.
However, in the backdrop of all the gains and successes, the consumers have nothing to cheer about except for the consolation that they are buying the drugs and medicines produced in their own country. The prices of most of the locally produced medicines have recorded a substantial rise, notwithstanding the fact the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) is unhappy that its members have to sell drugs at prices fixed 13 years back. Most consumers would find the BAPI claim about prices untenable since they had seen upward adjustment in prices of drugs and medicines on a number of occasions during last one decade. Whether such increase had been done with the approval of the Drug Administration-one of the most inefficient and inactive agencies of the government-or not is not, a subject to be investigated by the consumers.
The poor people are most affected by the rise in the prices of medicines. For instance, in the early nineties, one capsule of Ampicillin, an antibiotic widely prescribed by doctors then, used to cost a patient slightly more than Tk.1.0. The Ampicillin and a good number of other low cost antibiotic drugs are no more in use because of their ineffectiveness against bacterial infections. The antibiotics that are generally prescribed by the doctors these days are beyond the reach of the poor people because of their high prices. The minimum cost of a capsule of such antibiotics is Tk. 12, meaning that a poor patient would be required to spend at least Tk 144 to complete a full course of the drug. Such high cost of medicines are forcing the poor to look for the alternatives or buy low quality and substandard medicines produced by little known companies that are making brisk business in rural areas where the most poor reside.
This is quite frustrating that there has not been any effort on the part of the government to infuse dynamism and efficiency in the Drug Administration and make it capable of handling an emerging pharmaceutical sector. So far as the quality control of local medicines is concerned, the people, as the situation prevails now, are more dependent on the wishes of the drug manufacturers than on regular check and supervision by authorities concerned. Fortunately, most producers of drugs and medicines until now have been scrupulous in marketing quality drugs. But this is not anyway an ideal situation. The present interim government needs to look into the state of affairs immediately deep inside the Drug Administration and purge it of corrupt and inefficient officials and employees and appoint competent people-non-doctors should be a priority here-- to help it establish its authority in matters of pricing and quality control of drugs.
However, in the backdrop of all the gains and successes, the consumers have nothing to cheer about except for the consolation that they are buying the drugs and medicines produced in their own country. The prices of most of the locally produced medicines have recorded a substantial rise, notwithstanding the fact the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) is unhappy that its members have to sell drugs at prices fixed 13 years back. Most consumers would find the BAPI claim about prices untenable since they had seen upward adjustment in prices of drugs and medicines on a number of occasions during last one decade. Whether such increase had been done with the approval of the Drug Administration-one of the most inefficient and inactive agencies of the government-or not is not, a subject to be investigated by the consumers.
The poor people are most affected by the rise in the prices of medicines. For instance, in the early nineties, one capsule of Ampicillin, an antibiotic widely prescribed by doctors then, used to cost a patient slightly more than Tk.1.0. The Ampicillin and a good number of other low cost antibiotic drugs are no more in use because of their ineffectiveness against bacterial infections. The antibiotics that are generally prescribed by the doctors these days are beyond the reach of the poor people because of their high prices. The minimum cost of a capsule of such antibiotics is Tk. 12, meaning that a poor patient would be required to spend at least Tk 144 to complete a full course of the drug. Such high cost of medicines are forcing the poor to look for the alternatives or buy low quality and substandard medicines produced by little known companies that are making brisk business in rural areas where the most poor reside.
This is quite frustrating that there has not been any effort on the part of the government to infuse dynamism and efficiency in the Drug Administration and make it capable of handling an emerging pharmaceutical sector. So far as the quality control of local medicines is concerned, the people, as the situation prevails now, are more dependent on the wishes of the drug manufacturers than on regular check and supervision by authorities concerned. Fortunately, most producers of drugs and medicines until now have been scrupulous in marketing quality drugs. But this is not anyway an ideal situation. The present interim government needs to look into the state of affairs immediately deep inside the Drug Administration and purge it of corrupt and inefficient officials and employees and appoint competent people-non-doctors should be a priority here-- to help it establish its authority in matters of pricing and quality control of drugs.